Garment



Aug. 10, 1943. c. M. MILLER 2326380 1 GARMENT.

Fi'led June 27, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug; 10, 1943. c m. MILLER GARMENT Filed June 27, 1942 2 Sheds-Sheet 2. 1" I Patented Aug. 10, 1943 7' 5 f QI '7 r 2326380 7:11 f P H rment j V H a Cornell M. Miller, Cheltenhamflfai'li Application June 27, 1942, Serial, N0;

i Myinvention relates generallyito the garment art, and particularlyto that class ,ofundergarments which is generally designated bythe term shorts, which term as used herein is intended to include drawers and Womens undergarments which are similar torshorts.

In its-more specificaspects my invention pertains to undergarments such. as shorts which have means incorporated therein whereby the tionof the garment, but tomy knowledge no one of such garments combine a, cooperative' organization in a garment ofwaist size adjustment with girthwise tension reducingmeans. 1

Purchasers of garments often select thewrong size garments and must either returnthem or wear them to their cliscomfiturer This'disadvantil ' the body movement -and maximum portion to f tage is eliminated in shorts constructed according to my invention, due to. the adjustable means with which theyare provided, combined with the girthwise' l tension relaxing characteristics,

whereby a pair of shorts so constructed maybe adjusted to fit a range of waist measurements and arange of v rying girth requirements may be satisfied; f i 1 Shorts embodying the'features of'my invention provide the desiredv characteristics 'without'resorting to the use of elastic materials of any type.

There are many disadvantagesinherent in such materials when used in garments, not the least of which is the deterioration thereof due toeon stant laundering. The elastic also causesthe garment to be uncomfortable to the wearer due to its binding action.

In most garments of this type withwhich' I am familiar there is a tendency for the leg portions thereof to ride up on the legwhen the wearer is in certain positions; This is uncomfortable and therefore an undesirable action and the tendency has been eliminated inshorts em-' bodying 'myconstruction .of providing unusual seat expansion without requiring the use of addi& tional material. 1 It is, therefore, an object of my inventiont-o provide a pair of. shorts which i adjustable to fit'various waist sizes.

A further object of my invention is to provide front opening in the shorts 7 "The identical panels B and Clare providediwith outwardly diverging openingsg} which extend frontal Doint-spacedffrom 7 a pair of shorts which is r d ce r h s e n r e t of. in e tion, sg to q id? a pair of sh'orts which may be ;adjusted to;iit v r s Waist. size su h: adi sta lem an n requiring he se o anreles iam .Q

, A still furtherfobje t of my invention .is to V id a a o sh r s i avir adi s l f tures and cut to -provideroominess in the seat and hip portions withoutproducing a bulkyeffect.

. Iii iselw a ie f ri v mmn tsr rvri a pair of shorts which permit greatQfreedom'in the wearer. I f A further object roan seat.

7 [With the reregoih genera. Owner-saute;

and, results in .viewQasQWeH as" certainothers which will be apparentTfrom: the "following ex;- pl'an'ation; the invention :consists in certain novel features and design, construction, an'dfcombination of. elements, as iwill'b morefjullyjreferre'd to and'specifi'ed'hereinafter. I

Fig. 1 illustratesithe pa ents. a

' 'Figf2'is a perspective view, of.a'pair ofls embodyingmy invention.

'jFigQ'3-1isfaside elevationflof a. pair 7 a V t a a of a pairiof' shorts in position assumed when the wearer i fs'eated."

' Fig. 54 is a 'side' elevation Fig. 5 is a view taken on linel55 oftl fig. .31.,

" Fig. 6 is a perspective view of "a; pair ofj shorts 1 embodying a modified form of my'jinvention.

1 ig. '7 is a perspectiveview ofa pair of shorts embodying: a-further form of myi'nvention'.

Fig: 8 is a view taken on the line 8 8 of 'FigQG. I

jFig. 9 is a view takencn the 1. 6 9 -9 of Fig. 6. Referring to the drawings, fand particularly s Fig. 1 thereof which illustrates'the'patternfrom which the pre ferred form of 'myj-shorts is cut, the numeralAis used to designate'the rear panel or seat portion of the shorts p Twoidentical sec.-'

tions B and '0 form the front; leg and hipportionsfof theshorts whenthe' cut material is sewed together intqa completed garment. The

Waistband, of thegarment is for'med from "two strips but "following the pattern sections D and E, and a fly facingFis providedtojcover the elongated I- shaped i eies tefp thiinan stwh cha Shall; erms- I wo and a d-ee s i i t nv i e'i ro d a pair'of shor-tswhich will give mommessm the seat without requiring. the usual soeallied' finial p a I area-t including the waistbands and theflyfacing longitudinal edge, to'the opposite longitudinal edge thereof. Each transverse edge of the panels B and C are provided with cut out portions H. This pattern is an example of one from which shorts embodying my invention may be cut.

However it-isto be understoodthat a variety of undergarments may be provided with the features of my invention.

The completed garment which has been cut 3 from the pattern of Fig. l of}tl1e drawings and then sewed together is disclosed in Fig 2. Re-

ferring particularly to Figs. Zand 3 of "the drawings it will be seen that the shorts embody side.'

- portions I which form the hip and thigh coverings and which were cut from the panels B and Got the pattern, and the seat portion ;3 which was cut from the panel A of the pattern.

At opposite sides of the garments I provide apertures 5 which were cut into the sides I'of the garment by following the apertures G in the pattern; Such-apertures or .si'de openin'gs are not merely slits in the garment. Instead the material is; actually outout of the garment in such manner as to provide openings which 'diverge toward the top of the garmentb'efore the garment, sections aresewd together." Obviously, the garment sections pr'iorfl to being sewedtogether to'formthe finished garment will be-simi: lar in all respects to the pattern of Fig. The

materialinay be folded overand stitched to-finish the opening if preferred-,- instead or cutting'out the imatrial.

' iTh'e waistbandof my shorts is made 'in two sections, a front section land a rear section9.

' Thesections. 'I and {being soiassembled withthe garment that each; waistband section will'iextend aroundjtlretop of the garmentirom [one side' opening to. the other. Buttons II are pro vided on eachend of the rearwaistband section 9 and compl'e'mentarybutton holes IBFarebro-i 'viqed on the frontwaistband 1,; While l'show buttons beingused in'the drawings, it is to be understood that'snap fasteners or the like may ofcourse be used; 'While Ifprferably provide three buttons and two button holes I. mayv vary these" numbers in order to change the range of.

and scope'of my invention adjustability without departing pom. spirit The shorts of my-inventi'on arejput on and removed from the wearer, by; buttoning and un- ,buttoning the front and rear waistband sec tionsi'l andQ. Thereisno waistband opening or buttons; mi thefrontfof the garment which enhances 'the appearance thereof. 1Afr.on't'open ing'formed. by the cut-outportions Haas .illus-' trated inthe patternof Fig. l is covered'byT the facing I5Iformed fromth'e pattern piece F.

' o The side openings 5 extend from the top of thestock may be realized in the manufacture of such undergarments covering the full range of sizes. For example, it can readily be seen that instead of requiring nine (9) sizes to cover a range from size twenty-eight (28) to forty-four (44), a garment embodying my invention would. only require four (4) different sizes, to cover the range of sizes.

Fig. 4 of the drawings thegarmentunder the tensions setup therein when the wearer is seated. In this view it is I seen that'the openings 5 have the greatest expansion in the plane'of the central seat'area;

hence the girthwise tension will be greatly reduced, if'not eliminated and the wearer will experience unusual comfort. 3

I havev discovered that by cutting out a V- shaped section of material to make side openings 5 of upwardly'diverging shape agreater degree of. relaxation of. girthwise tension may be had, and I'have-also discovered that only-by making theopenings f substantial-length relative to" the garment-length may true relaxation of girth- I wise tension beobtained. Y a For adjustingthe' waist size of my shorts it is only necessary. to utilize one ofthe buttons: I I

in a-particular'buttonhole; As shown-in Fig. 4

oi the drawings the garment'is adjusted to its largest size, while buttoning the button the nearest therea'r-fof thegarmentin thefbuttonhole eaes the front thereof will reducethe waistband tothesmallest size possible.

' y utilizing two buttonholes on'the waistband in conjunction with the plurality of buttons I obtain advantageous {results which provide a heater garment." Thus if the "garment is worn for asmallersize one of the buttons not being used may be insertedzin'the freebutt onhole band from foldingigover. 7

Itis to be understood that a garment having side openings'comprising merely a 'slitoraput in the materialas contrasted with my particuwhiclr will prevent the'free end of the' rear waistlarly -desi gned cut-out section with upwardly diverging edges will notexpand or provide the.

same degree of' *gii'thwis'e expansioni flence; I have devised a mannerof providing side open ings which will permit themaximum degree of garmentto a point spaced'from the bottom of the garment. Thus the openings extend completely throughithe plane of the garment seat a where expansionis required for -'comfort when material: expansion in theseat portion of the garment. j

The side openings 5 are closed at the lower ends thereof bythe material of which the gar- 'ment is made, while at the upper ends thereof they'a'ref.close'dfonregulated by the'waistband adjusting means. Yet withthewaistband adjusted to its 'lsxnallestposition. the girthwis e tensign. will be relaxed' due tof ny particular construction of side'openings 5, whichhave'been described. Fig. 5 of the mannerin which. the waistbands whichTare formed of a strip .of material doubled o itself, 'to'fjorm a tube are sewed on the body portion of the garment; nfrowofstitching wiprovides a reinforcing-edge t'i jand such stitching also aids "in. providing a; unitary waistband structure formed of the .cloubledrover material; "The free edges ofthe" waistband are folded inwardly and V By inean's'iof my inventiofigreat" savings in the upperiedg'e oi the sections are placed between such inwardly folded edges and se'cured'thereto by stitchin 2!. r v

In Fig. 6 oftheadrawings' I disclose afmodiiied form ofmy invention in which the side openings ,5. are of substantially similar form and structure, as those 'of the"preferred embodiment of my discloses the action of drawings illustrates the particular invention. However, in this form of invention I eliminate the buttons and buttonhole waistband adjusting means.

Referring particularly to Figs. 6 and 8 of the drawings it will be seen that in this'form of my invention I incorporate with the garment a pair of drawstrings 23, one drawstring being attached to each end of the waistbands l and 9. The waistbands as have been described are of roughly tubular formation (see Fig. of the drawings) and in the hereinbefore described preferred form of the invention are, of course, stitched at their endsto enclose the area between the folded-over pieces of material of which the waistbands are formed. In the form of my invention now being described the top or folded edges of the waistbands i and 9 are not stitched as at l 9. A drawstring 23 is inserted a distance within the tubular portion of each waistband at the ends thereof in contact with the folded upper edge, and'is obtained.

secured thereto at its ends by means of a transverse line of stitching 25. A longitudinal line of stitching 2? extends from the transverse line of stitching to the outer end of each waistband, running along and adjacent to but not stitched to the lower edge of the drawstring. This provides a pocket or channel within a portion of each waistband for the drawstring. With the drawstrings or cords attached within the waistbands conventional pair of shorts having the usual front I opening 29 regulated by buttons 3|. In this form of my invention I do not provide waistband ad-' justing means but I do provide the side openings 5 for reducing girthwise tension. Such openings are of generally similar form and construction as those used in the preferred form of my invention, except that they merely extend to the waistband 33, the waistband being formed in one piece, and they overlap at the waistband as shown.

It will thus be seen that I have discovered a shorts structure which combines waist adjustment means with means for reducing girthwise tension which are cooperatively associated so that one does not hamper the operative charac teristic of the other. In the preferred arrangement it will be seen that the upper edges of the material defining the side openings 5 overlap yet due to the particular shape and conformation of the opening there will continue to be a substantial reduction of girthwise tension. similarly, when the waistbands are adjusted for max-.

just described are not encountered, therefore'a' of adjustability may be considerable degree I claim;

the upper edge of the garment body andv extend-' ing downwardly therefrom through the plane of the seat area of the garment to a point below the garment crotch seam, separate front and rear waistbands secured tosaid garment body in positionthereon extending from one side open ing to the other, and means forreleasably and adjustably securing opposing ends of the sepaband size ofthe garment. v j

2. A' garment of the character described, comrate waistbands'togetherfor adjustment of waistprising' a garment bodyhaving oppositely disposed side openings, therein extending through c the upper edge ,ofthegarment body and extend ing downwardly therefrom through the plane of' the seat area of the garment to a point belowthe garment crotch seam; separate front and rear;

waistbands of tubular construction secured to string secured at one end only within each tubular waistband at a point therein spaced from the waistband end,. andfextending from the ends-bf each waistband,'whereby' the waist size of'the garment may be adjusted by joining the drawstrings extending from opposed waistband ends.

3. A garment of the character described, com-. prising a garment body having a waistband encircling the upper edge thereof and having a front opening, the garment body having oppositely disposed sideopenings therein extending from the waistband downwardly of the garment the wearer by reduction the garment. I a g CORNELL M.

when a button H is inserted in a buttonhole I3, I 

